Cricket Australia has eased eligility rules for players with dual passports, such as Sam Robson.

The Cricket Australia board has "eased rules governing the eligibility of players holding dual passports to compete in domestic tournaments as part of a scheme to strengthen its talent base," according to REUTERS. The initiative's aim is to "lure talented cricketers such as the Sydney-born opening batsman Sam Robson, currently the leading run-scorer in the top tier of the County Championship in England, back to Australian domestic cricket." Robson, who "holds a British passport owing to his Nottingham-born mother," has represented Australia at the U19 level but is "also eligible to represent England in the future" (REUTERS, 8/16). In Sydney, Chloe Saltau reported New South Wales "has a plan to coach Robson, the 24-year-old opener and leading run-scorer in the country championship, into the Australian system so he can audition for the state side." Cricket Australia said in a statement, "CA wants as many quality cricketers playing in its domestic competition as possible" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 8/17). In Melbourne, Chris Barrett wrote "there is a wider agenda" behind the push from New South Wales, whose new administration, headed by Chair John Warn and CEO Andrew Jones, has "made no secret of a goal to target the diaspora of players raised in the state and have them return to Sydney" (THE AGE, 8/16).